Unit+Question+Response

Reflection on Module 3- Language and Society
By far this has been the most interesting module of the semester. It’s helped me to put in perspective the importance and critical need of teaching the foundations of literacy while emphasizing the need for respect and tolerance. A running statement and feeling of the discussion was that to be cut off from language and literacy is an inability to participate in society. There seems to be a universal understanding that it’s a virtual requirement to be able to read or write whatever language predominates in one’s community and larger society and a prerequisite for participation. Julia put it very nicely in her posting Language as Lens- “//Language is society. If a person is cut off from a portion of society because of his language, he is cut off from more than just conversation.//” In our class debates on whether or not to make English the official language of the United States both sides agreed that it was imperative for participation and a sense of community to be able to relate clearly to one another. Even if there were opposing views on the validity of one particular language, or several- it was still obvious that everyone agreed on the importance and value of language to unite individuals. Even the debate on whether or not to ban use of the word “nigga” from the classroom was rooted in the consideration of alienating or offending members of the class resulting in the impediment of communication. Everyone recognized the power of language to either divide or unite. I thought it was interesting then that everyone was opposed to passing over and keeping aging classics such as Huckleberry Finn out of the classroom- and not so much as for the fact that it is a well written piece of literature that can teach students about writing but for the fact that it is a kind of rich cultural artifact that can serve to shed light on the particular past that has given rise to our current situation and context of our use of language and the debates surrounding it. As much as we all recognize the importance of tolerance and acceptance we want to reserve the ability to use intolerance as a teaching instrument. It’s also been fascinating for me to focus on regional dialects here within the U.S. and consider prejudices based on pronunciation and vocabulary. Most of the time the primary focus is on the divide in language between ethnicities, but it’s important to remember that often we make judgments based on a far wider spectrum than that- most often within the system of class. There was a large, emotional response on the group pages and on the discussion board to the story “//...As Soon As She Opened Her Mouth!//”. There was a palpable sense of outrage toward the teachers and administration for their intolerance and their dismissal of not only the student but of that student’s entire family and community. This module really underlined the reasons I want to be an English teacher in the first place over any other subject. I think literature can be perhaps the most powerful tool in showing students the power language has over their lives while at the same time can provide the best argument for the creative use of language and the kind of power it holds when one knows how to use it.